Libyan rebels may get U.S. aid against Gadhafi

Opposition is forming alternative government

BENGHAZI, Libya - The Obama administration appeared Sunday to welcome the formation of a national opposition government in Libya, as rebels feared that dictator Moammar Gadhafi was preparing forces to counterattack.

As she prepared to fly to Geneva for a meeting today of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "we've been reaching out" to forces working to oust Gadhafi and are prepared "to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the United States."

Former high-ranking aides to Gadhafi who resigned since the uprising began 12 days ago met privately in rebel-held Benghazi in eastern Libya, the country's second-largest city, to create an alternative national government.

Organizers said the government would include liberated cities and towns and emphasized that it would be temporary.

Rebels were trying to organize a military offensive, but they did not appear to have the plans, supplies or manpower to move on Gadhafi.

Gadhafi still held the capital of Tripoli on Sunday.

One Tripoli resident, Naser, reached by telephone after nightfall, said that the city was mostly quiet after days of attacks but that there was unusually heavy activity at a major military air base near the capital. He asked that his last name be withheld to protect his security.

"Believe me, he is preparing for something," he said of Gadhafi. "He's been preparing for something like this all his life."

Naser pleaded for outside intervention, saying, "We do not have the power to defeat Gadhafi on our own. ... The rebels will not come to Tripoli. Tripoli is his fortress."

Residents of nearby Zawiya said Gadhafi's forces were circling the outskirts of their city after being run out days ago.

Two men said in interviews by cellphone that Gadhafi's forces were attacking on the edges of the city but had not re-entered the center, but that they feared that could happen at any time. The men spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their safety.

It was unclear how high-level the U.S. overtures to the opposition have been - or just what aid has been offered or accepted.

Clinton did not explicitly recognize the legitimacy of the opposition government and did not indicate there was any offer of U.S. military assistance.

While Clinton is in Geneva, President Barack Obama is to meet today in Washington with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The meetings follow the U.N. Security Council's adoption of sanctions late Saturday. It froze Gadhafi's and his family's assets, banned their travel and the travel of close associates and will forward possible war-crimes charges to the International Criminal Court.

Clinton said the discussion is "just at the beginning of what will follow Gadhafi."